Thomas Souza, D.C.

Thomas Souza, D.C., has been with Palmer College of Chiropractic's San Jose, Calif., Campus for 26 years and has been the Dean of Academic Affairs for the past eight years. During his tenure at Palmer, he has been a clinician, taught approximately 20 different courses, and currently teaches Differential Diagnosis I. He also teaches post-graduate and continuing education courses across the United States, Canada and Europe.

His book, Differential Diagnosis and Management for the Chiropractor, was adopted as a textbook for Differential Diagnosis classes at Palmer in 1993 and has been used ever since. Many other chiropractic colleges have followed suit, with most of them using the book in their classes (as a recommended or required textbook) as well.

Dr. Souza explains that Differential Diagnosis "provides a regional approach to musculoskeletal problems (e.g. low back pain, neck pain, etc.) and a presenting complaint approach (e.g. dizziness, headache, abdominal pain, etc.) for non-musculoskeletal complaints, students (doctors) are given an overview of each area with a general strategy for evaluation and management. Through an evidence-based approach, algorithms (i.e. flowcharts) direct the doctor to use specific history and exam clues to arrive at a final diagnosis."